Graph showing the occupational structure in Woodlands, Dorset in 1881

Woodlands is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the East Dorset district of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, South-West

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is five miles (8 km) north of

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poo ...

. Horton Road is the main road going through the parish. Woodlands has a long history and is known for multiple reasons. It is home to the Church of the Ascension which is a Grade II listed building. In 2001, the village had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 544 but in 2011 the population had fallen to 522.

The village

Demography

The

grew from 346 in 1811 to 476 in 1851 and then declined to 384 in 1911 but grew from a low point of 323 in 1951 to reach 544 in the 2001 census. In 2011, the village had a population of 522, 272 males and 250 females; the majority (504) are white British and Christianity (334) is the main religion.

Economy

Of the 286 people who are economically active, 280 are currently in employment, the majority (67) are either managers, directors or senior officials. The main industry that the residents of Woodlands work in is the Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repair of Motor Vehicles and Motor Cycles (44). Manufacturing (37) and construction (35) also make up a large sector of employment in Woodlands. In 1831 the majority of the population (67) were employed as agricultural labourers, in 1881 that increased to 70.

Housing

There are currently 201 households in Woodlands which has increased from 95 in 1901. The average house price in Woodlands is £447,735 which is comparatively more expensive than in neighbouring Verwood (£332,770) and Three Legged Cross (£352,353) but is cheaper than nearby Holt (£699,607). The majority of households (90) are married couple households with no dependent children.

Recreation

Remedy Oak golf club
is located in the heart of Woodlands that helps to increase the popularity of the area.

The parish church

Woodlands is home to the Anglican Church of the Ascension, a Grade II listed building. The church is in the Diocese of Salisbury. The church was dedicated in 1892 and was given to the village by Harriet, the Countess of Shaftesbury, in memory of her husband

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

who was the 8th

Earl of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his fa ...

. The church was designed by prolific church architect

George Frederick Bodley George Frederick Bodley (14 March 182721 October 1907) was an English Gothic Revival architect. He was a pupil of Sir George Gilbert Scott, and worked in partnership with Thomas Garner for much of his career. He was one of the founders of Watt ...

who designed cathedrals in Tasmania and Washington. The exterior of the church is a plain brick structure but the inside is prominent. There are three central columns arcading down the middle of the nave. On entering the church there is a large 12th-century circular stone font from Knowlton church (two miles west) which, according to tradition, was used for baptisms by Saint Aldhelm.

History

Woodlands parish was established when the hamlets of Baggeridge, Woodlands and Knowlton (the earliest settlement) were detached from Horton in the 19th century. Woodlands village was then first recorded in 1244. Woodlands was part of the Shaftesbury estate until after the Second World war. The parish is home to the hamlet of Knowlton with its prehistoric

henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...

s known as

Knowlton Circles Knowlton Circles (also known as Knowlton Henges or Knowlton Rings) are a complex of henges and earthworks in Knowlton, Dorset, England. The henge enclosing Knowlton Church is the best known and best preserved, but there are at least two other h ...

. In 1870-72 John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales'' said that in Woodlands: "The Duke of Monmouth, after the battle of Sedgemoor, was taken here in a ditch." The village is mentioned in 'Owen's book of fairs' in 1788 as having a yearly fair selling horses, cheese and toys on the 5th of July. (https://archive.org/stream/owensnewbookfai00owengoog#page/n39/mode/2up) Woodlands_population_time_series_1801-2011

Woodlands_population_time_series_1801-2011

References

External links

Census data
{{authority control Villages in Dorset Civil parishes in Dorset